Pitman-coupling.



w. s. MlNoR. PITMAN COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23. I9I4.

1,156,918. Patented 001. 19, 1915.

vTo all whom t may concern HEDSTATES;

A wLirEE MINOR; 0E cUNNINGriAM', TENNESSEE.

Be itknown that I,- WALTER S. MINOR, a citizen of the vUnited. States,residing at Cunningham, in the county of 'Montgomery and State ofTennessee, haveinvented cer-V tain new and useful Improvements inPitman-Couplings, of which` the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings u Thisinvention relates'to animproved lpitman coupling which is primarily designed for use inconnection with the vsickle of a mowing machine, andhas'foreits primaryobject to provide improved meansffor connesting or coupling thepitman-'to the sickle whereby a direct thrust isimparted thereto whichresults in the elimination of undue friction Vand' excessive wear, thus`greatly prolongingthe life of the coupling,

Y The invention has for a furtherobject to i produce a pitman couplingwhich will be absolutely free from cramping or binding between theparts. thereof,L irrespective of the position-to which thecutterbarmaybe adjusted:

One of thedetail objects ofthe invention is to provide means upon one ofthe elements of the coupling which will prevent adis-V connection of thesickle, whenj the latter is raised toa vertical position with respectVto the pitman. i I It is a .further general object of the.in' ventionto improve and simplify the' construction of dev icesof the-abovecharacter, whereby the same may be easily andquickl'y assembled inconnection with thewmovable part actuated by the pitman, and the devicereadily adjusted to compensate for wear and therebyovercome lost motion.

`With the above vand other objectsin view, my invention consists in thenovelfeatures of construction, combination,v land arrangement ofparts tobehereinafter more fully described, claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which, f

Figure l is a longitudinal'section of a pitman connection or couplingembodying the preferred form of my invention, showing the sameAconnected to the head of ja sickle; Fig. @isa sectiontalen on th'e line2-#2 of Fig. 1;,Fig. 3 is a detail V'perspective view of the sickle headto which the sicklefb'a:

' is secured;V and Fig. lis a detail view showing the means employed forlocking the nuts on the coupling bolts. u -Y v Specification of LettersPatenty Paten Y Applcation 1ed November 23, 1914. Serial N o. 873,566;

PITMAN-GOUPLJIN'G.' i

tea oet. 191 i915-.

.. Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 des- V ignates the sickle headwhich includes a base plate having an upstandingy longitudinallytapering flange 7 formed upon one ofits i longitudinal edges. One end ofthis flange is enlarged as at 8, and upon the 'sa-me the male elementofthe coupling is integrally formed.- This ele1nent consists of a hollowball of spherical. v formation 9 which` is produced uponthe outerend ofan inwardly projecting neck orextensionl() formedv upon vthe enlargedend 8 of the flange Thisneck is of greatest 'diameter at its lpoint ofjuncture with` the flange end 8, and'its outer end portion is ofellipsoidal' cross-sectional form,

the longitudinal aXis Athereof. beingof greater length; than itsvertical faXis. rlfhe ball Vor sphere 9is provided uponopposite sideswith-the spherical yenlargements indicated at ll, the .particularfvpurpose [of which will hollow,iand a plurality of VopeningsylQ lead tothe interior thereof, oneofsaid openings extending through thetop ofthey hollow 75 hereinafter appear. The ball or sphere 19' isceivingopenings, a rectangular longitudinally extending `opening l5 isformed in the pitman'.Y One halfof the female section of the couplingconsistsof asolid 4metal head or block 16 whichfisdisposed across theend faceofthe pitman arm or bar. IThis end facev of the pitmanarm at theopposite sides Y ofthe arm is beveled or charnfered and the head orblock 1,6 has correspondingly beveled flanges 17 "formed'nthereon whichserve vtofeliminate any tendency. of said block "to shift upon the' end-face of the arm', and re#V `lieve the coupling bolts to bejhereinafterre'- ferred to, of unduestrain. Upon the opposite ends of ,the head orblock `16, the parallelvmetal straps l8 are formed. These straps Iextend along the upper and lowerffaces 'of the pitman arm v andaresuitably secured thereto byl one or more rivets indicated at 19. `Theouter face of the head or block 16 is formed withfa concavity 52,0 forsliding engagement upon theconvex face of one of the-circularenlargements l1 formed upon the hollow ball-or sphere 9. The longitudifnal straps 18 vare provided with longitudi-l are adapted to registerIwith the slot l5 formed in the pitman arm.y

T he other section of the female part of the coupling includes spacedparallel metal bars or straps which are integrally connected at one oft-heir ends as at 23. Upon the inner face of this connection between themetal straps a boss is formed having a 1 concave face 2a for slidingengagement upon the other of the circular projections 1-1 formed uponthe ball 9. The connection 23 is also formed with an exterior 'extensionor projection'25 which is designed for the purpose of preventing thepitman and sickle bar kfrom dropping down when the cutter bar is raisedto vertical position. To this lend, an upturned lug 26 is formed uponthe sickle bar guide G for contact with the projection V25. The uppermetal strap 22 is formed with an opening 27 which coincides with theopening 12 in the top of the ball 9 so that a suitable lubricating oilmay be supplied to the interior of said hollow ball.

Fastening bolts 28 are adapted for insertion through the openings 14inthe pitrnan arm and corresponding openings in the straps or bars 1S.The outerl metal straps 22 of the female section of the coupling areformed with elongated slots 29 to receive said bolts, whereby saidlatter' str-aps may be shifted or adjusted longitudinally with respectto the straps 18 of the other coupling section. A square or rectangularbolt 8O is adapted to be inserted through additional rectangular slots31 in the metal straps 22 and through the slots 21 in the straps 18.When first applied, the rectangular bolt 30 is in contact with the rearor inner ends of the slots 31 and with the outer ends of the slots 21and the opening 15. ln the event of excessive wear upon the parts of thecoupling, a packing strip 32 of suitable material may be inserted intoth'e opening 15 and slots 21 between the outer end walls thereof and theopposed face of the rectangular bolt 30. One end of each 'of the bolts28 and 30 projects above the uppery metal strap 22 and is lthreaded toreceive a nut. lThis nut is formed with a flange 34@ having teeth orserrations 35 formed in its periphery. A spring locking plate 35 isfixed at one of its ends to the edge of the metal strap 22,-and isengaged at its other free end with the teeth 35 to securely lock the nutagainst reverse turning movement after it has been threaded inwardlyupon the boltand tightened against the face of the metal strap. v

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, the construction, manner of operation, and severaladvantages of my invention will be clearly and fully understood. Bycoupling the pitman bar or arm to the head of the sickle bar in themanner above explained, there is a direct longitudinal thrust and pullupon said bar which eliminates a great deal of wear or friction betweenthe male and female elements of the coupling. sickle bar may also bereadily adjusted, without `cramping orbinding between the parts. This isdue to the formation of the circular conveX projections 11 upon the maleelement of the coupling. It' will be apparent that the concave faces 20and 24 of the sections of the female coupling will at all times be freeto move thereon to various positions, and such movement will not berestricted or in any way interfered with by wear upon the contactingfaces. In the ordinary coupling of this character, grooves are soon wornin the periphery of the male coupling member so that shoulders areformed therein which will prevent or at least seriously 'interfere 'withthe adjustment of the sickle l'to other positions from that which itnormally occupies with respect to the pit'm'an.` It will also bemanifest that the several parts of the device may be very easily andquickly assembled, and asl they are all of simple formation and may bereadily cast,`the Ymanufacturing cost will be comparatively small. Thequickness and facility with which the outer vsection of the female partvof the coupling 'may be ad justed to compensate for any wear which mayoccur, is also a very important and highly advantageous feature of theinvention.

1While l have shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of the several elements employed, it will be understood thatthe invention is susceptible of considerable 'modification therein, andI therefore reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimatechanges as may be fairly resorted to without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to claim andsecure by Letters Patent is 1. A pitman coupling including a sphericalmale coupling element on the reciprocating part, two female couplingsections having longitudinally extending straps adjustable upon eachother, said female sections being provided with concave bearing surfacesfor engagement upon opposite sides of the spherical male couplingelement, a fastening bolt extending through the pitman and the straps ofthe femalecoupling sections to secure the latter in their adjustedpositions to the pitman, and means for adjusting said fastening boltlongitudinally of the pitman.

2. Appitman coupling including a spherical male coupling element onvthereciprocating part, two female coupling sections The having superposedlongitudinally extending straps and provided With opposed concavebearing surfaces for engagement upon opposite sides of the male couplingelement, said straps being provided With longitudi- `nal slots, a boltextending transversely .through the pitman and through said slots- 3. Apitman coupling including a spheri-v cal male coupling element on thereciprocating part provided With spherical enlargements upon oppositesides, female coupling sections each including longitudinally eX- Copiesof this patent may be obtained for tending parallel straps integrallyconnected at one of their ends,the straps of one section beingpermanently secured to the pitman andthe straps of the other sectionsuperposed upon thev rst named straps, A

each of said female sections being provided With a concave bearing facefor engagement upon one of the enlargements ofthe male coupling element,and means for adjustably`V clamping the last named female section uponthe pitman against relative movement With respect tothe other femalesection.V

In testimony whereof I hereunto afx my signature in the presence of tWoWitnesses.V i WALTER S. MINOR;l Witnesses:

G. A. MINOR, L. MORGAN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 1Washington, 13.03, A

